I posted this sneak peek twenty days ago-Jen nailed it right away and knew what I was up to.

I spent the New Year knitting cervices for my dear and talented friend Sonya Philip. Sonya has not only inspired me with her knitting on ordinary objects but has also wowed me with her new undertaking, The Felt Cervix Project-a collaborative art installation currently on display in Oakland, California.

Sonya has created a pattern for a knit cervix and is asking volunteers to knit a cervix or two or more to add to her growing pile. Why? To raise awareness about female reproductive and sexual health and in her own words, The aim of The Felt Cervix Project is about engagement, creating, and community. Help carry on the conversation. Get people talking.

I knew immediately I wanted to contribute to Sonya's project. My thoughts went back to when we first met in person, unbelievably it was exactly five years ago this month I was in San Francisco. Our friendship came fast and our conversation intimate. I had been suffering. We began talking and before I knew it I was telling her about my three miscarriages, my desire for a second child, the tumor the size of a grapefruit that was invading my uterus and seemed to prevent pregnancy, I went on and on and on and on. And Sonya? she listened, really listened, she held my hand, gave me a hug, and bravely promised me it would happen. And it did. And to celebrate, she knit him a blanket (and an owl!) and I will never forget.

Sharing our stories is a powerful thing. And I found there is nothing like knitting a cervix in the presence of many women that can really get some interesting conversations started.

It was New Years, we were at the farm, and we were at a party with about forty people. As I sat knitting, women of all ages shared their stories. Birthing stories, cancer stories, menstrual stories. It worked Sonya! It got us all talking! And that's just for starters.

The details:

I used two kinds of pink yarn. Patons Classic wool (easy for wet felting) and vintage wool tapestry yarn I picked up at the thrift store (not as easy to wet-felt, but with extra muscle, I managed).

I used size 8 double pointed needles and for the first time learned how to knit in the round. (Thank goodness for instructional videos on the web!) I was not familiar with the MAKE 1 stitch, but figured that out quite easily too.

Each cervix took me about 75 minutes to knit, and even after knitting ten of these I was not able to memorize the pattern. But that's just me. Chawne only needed an impressive 20 minutes to knit one and memorized the pattern after making two. Sonya's pattern is easy to read and well written and after learning to knit in the round I may give socks a try after all!

I wet felted them using rubber gloves which really helped speed up the process.

And I'm happy to report they made it safely to Sonya. See them in a tower here.

Do you knit? Consider making one or two or three and mail them off to Sonya. Spread the word. Help grow her pile for the installation. Get women talking. xx

It's always a treasure for me to find these mini art wall hangings while thrifting. I think it is just the size that makes them so sweet. They fit into tiny corners on walls where nothing else will. I found this one last week for less then a dollar.

I went into hibernation mode last week. It wasn't planned but I kind of avoided the computer. Went to bed early. Caught up on some much needed sleep. I hate to be on the computer in front of the boys, so usually wait until they are in bed. I'm refreshed now! I think the new hair helped sort of "wake me up". Cutting fifteen inches and adding some blasts of color will do that for me. I'll be back tomorrow. xx

My obsession for these abandoned ceramics began sometime last year when I found the most beautiful cream white hand thrown bowl for under a dollar. I just turned the bowl over and over in my hands feeling the weight of it, thinking about the person who made it, wondering why it ended up where it did. I didn't hesitate taking it home with me and with that purchase a new thrift find was awakened.

I guess I sort of see it as my mission to "rescue" these mismatched, one-offs that were either a potters discontinued/not perfect piece or a students one time class assignment. Then I got the idea of seeking out mugs. I started with large ones...

...but seemed to keep coming across these smaller cups.

My goal is to collect at least 12 of the smaller ones so I can bring them to the preschool. I have a sweet vision of serving all the children hot tea in these miniature mugs after a chilly morning in the backyard. So far I have seven, so you can bet I'll be scouring the shelves to complete my set. We use these pieces every day-I think food and coffee just taste better out of something so pretty.

...we took down the tree, and I finally finished my holiday greetings and thank you cards.

I really like to make the cards although I spend so much time on them they undoubtedly get in the mail much later than they should. These trees were made with wool felt...I felt a little wistful adding a strip of wool felt "snow" at the bottom as we have none. It has truly been one odd winter...it's 45 degrees right now! (???)

One week ago I looked at different ideas and challenges I'd like to try for this new year, and have decided that one I am going to commit to is Take a Stitch Tuesday. How wonderful to have 52 new stitches to add to my somewhat limited repertoire of what I now use. The first weeks stitch is "fly stitch" and I've just begun experimenting with this new (to me) stitch. I loved searching flickr for inspiration here are some favorites.